Sous Vide + Grilled Steaks

I was a Sous Vide naysayer for a long time.

As a busy mom that is short on time, adding an additional step to my cooking routine, especially to put something into a warm water bath, always sounded ridiculous to me. And then my husband got me a Rose Gold Joule Sous Vide for Christmas. So I had to use it. And, well, I have to say- I am impressed.

If you are looking for a perfectly cooked steak, sous vide offers tenderness that is often hard to accomplish on Choice or supermarket grade steaks. By coupling this tenderness with the smokiness you can only get by grilling over Charcoal, you have yourself the PERFECTLY COOKED steak.

Charcoal

I tried out Kingsford’s new Hardwood Briquettes available at Home Depot for this steak and I have to say I was impressed. I’m a fan of Kingsford traditional briquettes. Their version of “Lump” charcoal has the size consistency of their traditional charcoal briquettes while still offering the long, hot burn that you’d expect from lump charcoal.

Their new Hardwood Lump charcoal briquettes were perfect to try for these steaks as they needed a nice hot sear on the grill to finish them off. When looking at these briquettes, the main difference in appearance is seeing actual wood chunks in the briquette itself. Otherwise, they look almost identical to their original charcoal briquettes.

I’m definitely a fan of how this charcoal cooked and excited that they’ve expanded their product line up to include hardwood for a hotter burn- perfect for steaks!

Timing and Seasoning

What I enjoyed about starting out with the Sous Vide was that the Joule Sous Vide pretty much idiot-proofs the entire process. They offer an app that gives you good instructions and cooking times based on the thickness of your meat. (If you don’t have this on your sous vide, you’ll just need to use a timer based on your meat thickness.)

The other thing I really like is that you can use the Sous Vide portion to add in ingredients that will add flavor to your steak. In this case I added KerryGold Butter, rosemary sprigs, garlic cloves and rubbed the steak with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Transition to the Grill

After sous vide-ing for about an hour, I got the notification the steak was done. From that point, it was time to transition to the grill. While you are sous-vide-ing the steak, you can use that time to go ahead and make yourself a cocktail. Then prep your grill and get the coals started so they are nice and hot when the steak is done.

Start by sous vide-ing your steaks according to the doneness you desire which will be calculated by internal thickness of the steaks. From there, set your sous vide cook timer according to directions. While the steaks are in the Sous Vide bath, go ahead and prep your grill. I recommend using a thermapen or an internal read thermometer to ensure the correct internal temps have been met on the grill before pulling the steaks to ensure the perfect internal doneness to your liking.

Sous Vide + Grilled Steaks

Ingredients

2 NYStrip of Ribeye Steaks- ¾ to an 1” is ideal (try to buy steaks that are the same thickness)

2 tsp kosher sea salt

2 tsp fresh ground pepper

2 tbsp (one each) high quality butter

2 cloves garlic- one per steak

2 small sprigs Rosemary

Plastic Zip lock bags OR vacuum sealed bags

Instructions

Prepare a large pot with warm water. Next, add salt and pepper to your steaks.

Put the steaks in the vacuum bag or ziplock bag and add the butter and rosemary sprigs on top of each steak.

Set your sous vide according to cut of steak and thickness. Please note that you will want to set them for about 10 degrees under your desired internal temperature as you will be finishing them off on the grill. So, if you want a medium rare steak at completion, set your Sous Vide to get to 125 internal degrees. Make sure your steaks are sealed in the plastic bag or vacuum bag and that they submerge in the water. I use a smaller pot to weigh down the steaks so they don’t float to the top.

Cook the steaks according to the sous vide instructions and with the timer.

While the Steaks are cooking in the Sous Vide

Go ahead and get your grill prepped. Depending on the thickness of your steaks, get your coals started for DIRECT GRILLING (over the coals). At about 500 degrees so that you can start grilling once your Sous Vide Timer goes off.

Since you have already cooked the steaks to the desired internal temperature of your liking, you are just finishing the steaks on the grill to achieve a nice sear on both sides.

Grill your steaks at 2 minutes per side and test the internal doneness. If you are looking for medium rare, opt to cook in the Sous Vide until 125. Then grill until you’ve hit internal temp 130 degrees. Keep in mind that when you pull the steak off the grill it will continue to come up about 5 degrees.

I recommend you ALWAYS use a Thermapen, a Thermopop or an instant read thermometer so you don’t have to guess!

Let the steaks rest under foil for 8 minutes or so, giving the juices a chance to re-distribute in the meat. I live to serve my steaks with a compound butter because for some reason, steak and butter are a really great combo!

How do you like to cook your steaks on the grill?

Leave a comment below to share your tips with other readers!

Notes

If you don’t have a grill, consider finishing the steaks cooked on cast iron for a great sear. This is the second best way to cook a sous vide steak. The main difference is you won’t get the smoky taste from Charcoal but a good alternative if you don’t have a grill to use.

Note: This is a partnered post with Home Depot. I only partner with companies and products I personally use. Partnered posts help pay for this blog. I have also used affiliate links in this post- there is no cost to you but if a purchase is made I may make a small commission – this also helps pay to keep this blog going so I can continue to bring you grilling content!

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About The Author

I'm Robyn, The GrillGirl behind GrillGirl.com. My focus is on healthy, simple and creative recipes on the grill. I encourage women to learn to grill as it is a great way to create healthy, flavorful dishes without all the fuss and clean up in the kitchen.